The finest food known to man

Day: August 17, 2012

One of the great challenges of reviewing food is to be completely fair, all the time. It shouldn’t matter if I like the place, or the people that work there, or the atmosphere…what should matter is the food. It should stand on its own merits.

Such is the case with this review. If I was in a crowd of thousands of people, and someone said “raise your hand if you like Waffle House”, mine would probably be the first hand up. I love, love, LOVE the Waffle House. Whether it’s late at night, after a music gig, or early in the morning on the road, or even dinner…it’s my “go to” place when I want comfort food and a slice of Americana.

However, there’s a caveat there. There are some things that Waffle House does very, very well. And, there are some things that, if you try them, you’ll be sorely disappointed. And, in my mind, the breaded tenderloin was one of those.

Our business took us to the west side of Indy recently, and I was craving Waffle House. We arrived at the restaurant, and when I checked in on Foursquare, there was a tip….”One of the best tenderloins ANYWHERE”. I took it with a grain of salt, but asked our capable waitress “Is this a REAL tenderloin, or a fritter?”, and she replied “Trust me…it’s a REAL tenderloin”. So I decided to give it a try.

All I can say is, “trust me…it’s a REAL tenderloin”. No pre processed, frozen patty, this is the real deal. It’s pounded out just a bit thinner than I prefer, but that’s a matter of personal preference. The breading is really, really good. Nice and crunchy, and the balance of the texture of the breading to the texture of the meat is very good. The meat is quite tasty, and, obviously, fresh. I was very, very surprised at the quality of this tenderloin.

The sandwich was served dressed exactly as I asked, and there was only 1 (minor) detail. Being a bit too thin for my taste, it didn’t give the right texture. Not terrible, but not quite right. Had it been a bit thicker, there would’ve been the nice crunch of the breading, and the nice moist tender meat, but, pounded so thin, it all came out at once, and that’s not my preference. And, since it’s MY blog, it’s my call. I’m going to give it 4 out of 5 bites. It’s not the best I’ve ever had, but it’s well above average and worth a stop when you’re on the West side.

Just one note: I’m not sure if ALL Waffle House breaded tenderloins are like this…so I’m basing my review ONLY on the West Washington street location.

The West Washington Street Waffle House is located at 3815 W Washington in Indianapolis. Oddly enough, this location doesn’t show up on the www.wafflehouse.com website.